My Iron Giant
-Lullaby Of A Deadman-
Stealth was their best option here, well really it was always the best option to never let your enemy know you're coming. Yet it was rare to have that luxury, especially when engaging the enemy that was already watching his back.
Ochaco tapped her fingers against another black drone, letting it propel itself into the air with only two spins of its rotors. Without constantly having to fight the pull of the Earth, these drones could silently move through the night without letting anyone know they were there.
Both of the girls sat atop a tall rooftop, each switching between their own eyes and their HUD's to watch the many different visuals of the drones.
"You know." Ochaco called over to her fellow hero in training. "If we had Izuku fly over the area, I bet he could easily find this guy."
"That would be cheating." Momo blankly replied.
"Cheating in finding a serial killer?"
"Yes."
"Wouldn't a hero normally call in a resource that could quickly apprehend a villain?"
"Did every hero call in All Might when he was around?" The ravenette tilted her head towards Ochaco's direction, still monitoring her own feeds.
"No, but they could call in heroes with sensory or reconnaissance quirks."
"We're training to become heroes who can do that." Momo refuted, holding her stance on the argument. "The best training is experience, and once we develop them then we can become the very heroes others will call to depend on."
"Thus putting us higher on responses, action time, more coverage by media-"
"Essentially increasing everything that correlates to ranking and influence. If we want to be high in the ranks, be known to be dependable, have access to the best resources, then we need to be known as the heroes to be called. The heroes who call others for help aren't worth being known."
Ochaco temporarily gave her focus on one of the screens, seeing a lone man in one of the buildings marked 'permanently closed'. Ordering the machine to zoom into the scene only filled her with regret. Ugh, that was so gross. "That's kind of a black and white way to view heroes."
"Heroes need to do their jobs." Momo stated in an oddly cold tone. "If they don't, it's the people who will suffer for their inaction."
"Not all heroes are combat orientated." Ochaco reminded her stiffly. "In fact, before Izuku I was going to be a rescue hero like Thirteen."
Momo held up her arm, both the girls suddenly on edge as the taller one looked at her feed more precisely. "Sorry, false alarm. It's just a drunk."
Ochaco she wished she saw a drunk instead of the…egh. Before she could continue her story Momo did it for her.
"But then Izuku Midoriya came, and then you took up shooting from Snipe. Once you discovered a tool that could be used to improve your hero work you're been honing it ever since, and not for rescuing."
"He trained me in other things too."
"Anything that doesn't primarily focus on combat?"
That's where she couldn't immediately reply, but luckily she didn't have to for any longer. One of the drones hovered over an alleyway, and from the corner of the screen Ochaco saw someone moving up. Now, there's not a lot of people who can do that, even significantly less are allowed to do so, even less would do so at this time.
Commanding the drone to halt, switching to night vision, Ochaco zoomed in on the subject. There was no mistaking it, it was him.
"Target identified." Ochaco stated in a serious shift of personality. "Drone nineteen, about three and a quarter mile away, south east, marking current coordinates 35.18741395916511 by 136.94512709494168."
"Confirmed." Momo relayed, taking back control of her drone with the manual inputs along her arm. "Marking target and maintaining safe follow distance. Rerouting all other drone paths to monitor target within a one mile radius."
Ochaco saw the feeds change, every other drone obeying its orders to monitor the man. Switching to only two and having them in the corner of her vision, Ochaco tapped Momo to let them swiftly float through the night air.
Even if Momo kept acting weirder and weirder, Ochaco was still impressed with the control over her quirk. Not just the detail it would take to know every molecular structure of the various components, but also their states to let them have a full charge in their batteries. Not just that, but she could use that to encode them with software upon creation AND make sudden changes to compensate for weightlessness and stealth.
Yeah, there's no way Ochaco would have been able to utilize that quirk to more than a metal rod in combat.
Thinking about how smart the girl next to her managed to keep the fact that the man they were hunting just so happened to be moving faster in their direction.
It was always more peaceful at night, less of the crowds rushing to and from, and more of the gentle lights that lit the paths of those who refused to go down with the sun. Perhaps that's why there were more criminals at night.
Those who corrupt peace crave it the most.
Which was exactly what he would do tonight.
There in the sky he spotted them, twin specks of light rocketing over the buildings. One leading, to pass on its knowledge to the following light. It was a remarkable comparison to that of passing a torch, given how they even resemble them from a distance.
It's almost a shame, he made sure there were at least some gigantification nomu to keep his attention for a short while. Oh well, at least his main asset was closer to the boy's current model.
Tomura would probably know what it was, and Kurogiri couldn't be bothered to look at any media that would waste their time going over pop culture references.
His brooding mood now disturbed by annoying thoughts, Kurogiri decided he would share his lack of peace with the country tonight. If it was successful, then no one in the world would sleep tonight.
He would be in their bare sights any second now. Ochaco double checked her ammo type, a similar variation used at I-island. Essentially, taser rounds. It worked well on electronics, it'll work just as well against human muscles, only these don't have as much power to punch through steel.
Since he was so close, they had to keep the drones spaced out to not cluster them too close together. Momo had finished her array of traps, some remote turrets in the area waiting for the input to fire. Nets, more tasers, tear gas, unfortunately they couldn't get any sound based attacks given this was still a populated neighborhood.
The screen in the corner of her eye showed the closest drone to the killer, moving up onto the rooftop across from them.
"Fifteen feet from action point." Momo relayed from the building to the right, steadying her sniper atop an air conditioning unit.
The trap was just ahead, he just had to keep going in the same line he had been going before. The muscles in her arms under the metal began to dance with the sensation of light pin needles. Something in the back of her mind was becoming anxious, the fact that this plan was working so well threatened to spill fear into her heart.
Time and time again, from lessons with Snipe, to going into the entrance exam, being attacked by villains, just about every single live action exercise she had taught her one thing.
Nothing goes according to plan.
A silver glint, hardly more than a speck, threw itself into the air. The video in the corner of her HUD cut out, and suddenly everything became chaotic.
"Contact, main drone offline." Momo said in a whisper, keeping herself from being spotted. "Deploying all effective traps."
Canisters, nets, all sorts of items launched themselves from the air towards the enemy rooftop. The scene was a mess, to the point where the visual of the man was lost.
It was at that moment Ochaco knew they never had the element of surprise. She was already moving when her helmet managed to highlight the hand gripping the edge of her roof.
Leaping to her feet, Ochaco kept her gun forward as Stain threw himself towards her.
*BANGBANG*
Two shots cut the silence, hitting Stain in his chest but he kept moving towards her. He brought out two swords from behind himself, reaching forward to swipe her gun away from him as Ochaco never kept her sights off him.
"Contact contact he's right on me!" Ochaco shouted, throwing her fist forward to let the grapple line from her suit shoot towards Stain.
He easily sidestepped it, cutting away at the line as he went for a straight jab at her stomach. Instantly she became weightless, the air jets on her boots kicking her away from the blade that would have skewered her.
Swinging back her gun at Stain, she let out even more shots. He dashed away, using whatever electrical units along the roof as cover as he threw out knives towards her.
*BANG*
A chunk near where Stain would have been exploded into dust, the man leaping away from the shot and straight towards Ochaco.
She continued to shoot at him, using her air jets to keep a safe distance. He ignored it, even as one of his arms became limp Stain threw another blade towards the girl. It cut straight through the pressurized air, cutting into Ochaco's boot and slicing into the boost mechanism.
The girl began to spin out of control, forced to temporarily return her gravity as Stain rushed to finish the job.
A multitude of drones rushed in his way, seeking to simply overwhelm the man in their numbers. His diligence could not be halted, a crazed drive pushing him to maneuver through the obstacles while nicking their rotors to render them useless. Even as one exploded into a gas, Stain pressed on with his violent red glare.
"YOU!" He roared as Ochaco rolled in her landing. He kicked her gun away from her grasp, the girl forced to be in close quarters with the man. "You are EVERYTHING wrong with heroes!"
Stain started with a slash with his only good arm, Ochaco barely ducking under with her heartbeat accelerating.
"The violence!"
Stain shifted his stance, a bullet whizzing past him as he kept getting closer and closer to Ochaco.
"The selfishness!"
He continued to push, swiping at Ochaco's feet as she hopped over it.
"You are nothing more than a gun for hire!" Stain reached out with his longer blade, cutting against the arm Ochaco used to block. "All Might was the last true hero, and you got him killed alongside everything it means to be a hero!"
He licked his blade, taken aback by the lack of blood on it.
That pause was long enough for Momo to take the shot.
*BANG*
Blood erupted from the man's torso, Stain being thrown back by the force of the bullet that slammed into him. As he fell to the ground, Ochaco grabbed her pistol, keeping it leveled at the man while Momo made her way to the scene.
She kept her eyes on him, never leaving as she saw the puddle form under him. With a basic scan of her helmet, she monitored his heart. Still beating, he was still alive but who knows for how long.
"D-did I get him?" Momo asked, taking off her own helmet to remove the filter from her vision.
"Yeah, good shot." Ochaco complimented, giving a single pat on the girl's shoulder. "He's not dead if that's what you're wondering. Why don't you call the commander? Tell her we have him."
"Yes, but, I don't understand."
"What's that?"
"He seems like a very competent combatant, so why did he stop pressing the advantage to lick his wea-"
A distant explosion distracted them, the girls looking off into the distance to see an orange glow with smoke rising from it.
Priority 1: Protect the User
Ochaco's arm lurched up, steel sparking against her arm as it glided right through the material in her suit. Stain swiped down, ripping Ochaco's sleeve with his now broken sword to reveal her augmentation. Both the girls snapped to attention as Stain passed by them, Momo bringing up her gun as Ochaco blocked another blow with her other arm.
The ravennette had the man right in her scope, staring straight into his hateful gaze. It was frightful, her finger shaking over the trigger as she tried to overcome the sheer threatening visage of the man.
"That's why." Stain rasped out, his breathing labored as he pointed his blade at Ochaco's arm. "You abandoned the most important thing that makes a true hero, humanity."
"Tell me." Stain stalked forward, his presence unwavering from their attacks. "Do you bleed?"
It seemed impossible, both the heroes in training staring at the unstoppable force in front of them. He had discovered them, avoided all their traps, and even when swarmed with drones and gasses he marched straight through. Not only that, it seems like he's ignoring the fact that he was shot with a high caliber round.
"You will." Stain declared, licking the droplet of red on his knife.
Momo collapsed, Ochaco left standing alone against him with a million questions wanting to rush through her mind about what happened. They didn't though, Ochaco staring at the immovable obstacle in front of her.
Holding up her hands with her palms open, Ochaco breathed deeply as she relied on the tools of her body. Stain accepted her challenge, repositioning himself into a low crouch as the two stared one another down.
Stain adjusted the grip on his blade, Ochaco shifting her hind foot to an angle.
Normal odds, Ochaco wouldn't last a few seconds hand to hand with someone like Stain. He was a monster at combat, and unfortunately she predicted she had less experience, less training then he did by a longshot.
Wouldn't be the first time this week.
Stain lurched towards her with his good arm, Ochaco shifting to the side to let him rocket past. His other arm that would have been dismissed sprung to life, seeking to take Ochaco's with a serrated blade.
With clear focus, Ochaco used the swift reaction of her arms to snap the back of her wrist against the surprise attack. The blade shattered, Stain using the original arm out of her field of vision to try and stab from behind. With his other arm still close to her hand, Ochaco grabbed his wrist, made him weightless, and spun him out of her personal space.
He moved with the spin, using the momentum to bring even more force behind the sword coming for her neck. Taking a step closer, Ochaco grabbed the offending limb and thrust an open palm strike right under his ribcage.
A flow of plasma burned through her sleeves, flowing straight into the man and lighting up his muscles. The shirt he wore turned to ash, revealing a combat vest underneath it all with white fluid running out of a few holes in it, a large one being right over his liver.
The man's body spasmed, even as Ochaco released her grip and watched him carefully. He defiantly stood against the infliction, forcing himself to stay on his feet as he twitched in place. When his gaze met Ochaco's helmet, all he saw was her pistol aimed right between his eyes.
His throat trembled as he tried to force words out of his throat, hearing an audible click of the safety being turned off.
"Stay down, final warning." Ochaco gave, before calling out to her friend without moving. "You ok Momo?"
"Y-yes." The girl said, still motionless on the ground. "I think he used a paralysis quirk, activated by ingesting the victim's blood. He barely even grazed me." She finished in more of a whisper, Ochaco thinking it over.
That would make the whole licking the blade in the middle of a fight make more sense. Good thing he couldn't cut through her arms.
"Y-y-y-y-you t-t-two." Stain managed to mutter out, overcoming the numb sensation through his body. "A-a-a-are a c-c-c-c-cancer to-"
"Shut up." Ochaco demanded. "If you really wanted a world with better heroes, you wouldn't be scaring them enough to send the ones with guns after you."
"T-t-t-that's ex-x-xactly t-t-the issue." He growled at them. "Heroes persevere, heroes don't give in, heroes endure, there won't be any heroes if there are never challenges to rise up to. Instead, they're making you, wolves in sheep's clothing that obey an alpha of corruption. With you to remove the moments that make real heroes, there will never be opportunities for good men to become true pillars of heroism."
The night was suddenly joined by a green light, flowing into the air and encircling the distant city. It was the same glow Ochaco knew, and she couldn't help but spare a glance towards its direction.
Stain capitalized on his second chance given by fate, believing himself to be aided by a higher power to end the filth right in front of him. Empowered by his faith, Stain grabbed a hidden knife on his person and dashed forward.
*BANG*
Momo withheld a scream, Stain falling right in front of her with the burning rage inside of him gone. Even with a hole in his forehead, his eyes kept the same fire in them as he lived. If anything, it proved that his conviction was the possessing force behind his body.
"Something's going down." Ochaco said, pointing towards the event on the horizon. "We can't afford to watch after him if they need our help."
"Stand down." Their third party finally intervened. "You'd only get in the way."
"Excuse me?!" Ochaco shouted as she took off her helmet to yell at it directly. "You know I can team up with Izuku and unleash his potential right?!"
"You'd have to get through a burning city to do that."
"Fine! I can just drop in from above and-"
"Stand down." The woman cut through with authority in her tone. "I'm heading your way in a chopper, ETA five minutes. Clear a pad and prepare the body for transport."
Ochaco threw her helmet against the ground with so much force it cracked the screen. "DAMNIT! Between the two of us we could be over there in ten minutes tops! Not only that, but that asshole ruined my hero suit! You realize how much detail went into this thing?! I don't even know if our club has the resources to make another one."
"U-um, Uraraka?" Momo whimpered.
"Yeah?!" The teen whipped around, seeing Momo try to move herself away from the growing puddle of blood while staring into the eyes of a dead man. "Oh, sorry."
Walking over, she took away Momo's gravity and threw the girl onto her shoulder. She spared a glance towards Stain, almost expecting him to just rise up from the dead and try to strike her down again. His drive was haunting, but not even it could survive a bullet.
Lucky her.
It happened so fast. Shoto was just following Backdraft as they finished a night patrol, then suddenly there was an explosion. Rushing over to the scene, the boy had to take a moment to process the scene.
They were monsters, a black beast with patchy skin and a face split in half. The brain could be seen in the tear, forcing the head open as it bulged out of the open wound that continuously tried to rapidly heal over. It had long arms that were constantly snapping around itself, the legs matching their proportions but always in a deep squat, even as it stalked around the burning bus.
"Immobilize that thing!" Backdraft shouted, already trying to douse the fire and see if there were any survivors.
Shoto complied, and with a small step forward he encased the eight foot beast in a glacier. He gave it no room, not even to breathe as he stared at the monstrosity before them. Examining it closer, it had some resemblance to the recordings of the nomu that-
*CRASH*
A car was thrown against the building next to him, Shoto looking over to see another one of the creatures picking up a minivan next to it. A mother and children screamed inside as they were hurled towards the boy. With a rush of cold, Shoto expertly made a path above himself for the car to land on and slide back to the empty side of the road.
Glaring at the creature, it didn't even make a noise, just quietly moving to the next vehicle. Shoto didn't give it a chance, freezing it just like the other.
"Hey!" Backdraft called out, carrying a couple people out of the bus with his quirk. "Help make sure these folks-"
*CRACK*
The ice around the creatures began to break apart, a flood of broken limbs rushing out of each new crack. One of them freed itself, five spilling out of its place.
It could duplicate, even while restrained.
"It's no use." Backdraft informed Shoto. "These things are all over the place, everyone's already got their hands full and ambulances are being prioritized towards more controlled areas with greater injuries."
"May I use more lethal measures." Shoto requested, particles of ice forming in the air around him.
"If you think you can kill these things." Backdraft got the last person out of the bus, the flames no more than steam at this point.
*SHLICK*
Shoto froze them, entirely. Not just covering them in ice but freezing the creatures themselves.
*BOOM*
Instantly the glacier erupted, fifteen half frozen monstrosities spilling into the streets. Shoto tried spearing them, Backdraft using his quirk to try and entangle a few of them together. Nothing was working, blunt force, freezing, slicing, impaling, they kept healing and kept duplicating.
There was more flesh than concrete encompassing the area now, Shoto struggling to keep up with their mindless tenacity.
"Shoto!" Backdraft shouted, making a barrier of water around the survivors of the crash. "We need to get these people indoors! Prioritize defense and escort!"
Where? Where were they supposed to get them through? Nearly every square foot had one of these creatures in it. Yet he heard more screams, more people trapped in their vehicles or cornered in alleyways. He kept freezing paths, trying to push them away, but if they weren't frozen they were strong enough to break his ice. If he froze them then they made even more of themselves.
Out of a desperation to save them, Shoto erupted pillars of ice under the cars with people in them, creating icy paths towards the roofs of other buildings for them to be able to cross over to. To his horror, the monsters began to climb the ice.
How was he supposed to save them now?
*FWOOM*
Orange flames flooded through the street, turning the nomu into a crisp statues of their former selves. Endeavor landed in the center of it, rushing through on foot to use more precise flames to not melt the ice keeping some of the civilians safe. "Monolith, secure those on the columns of ice."
"Yes sir." Shoto couldn't even see where the voice came from, it quickly flew over head as a clanging noise resounded above him out of sight.
"Oh thank All Might." Backdraft jogged over to Endeavor as the people he was guarding quickly rushed indoors. "Endeavor, how can we help?"
"You were correct in getting people inside, continue your efforts and put out any fires these things cause." The hero quickly commanded, glancing over to his son. "The only way these things can be controlled is through carbonizing their cells. Even burning the brain will be effective at killing them."
"I won't." Shoto interrupted, marching towards his father. "I won't dare use your power."
The man didn't shout, but he did make himself heard. "Every single one of my sidekicks is currently running through this city to try and keep this situation under control, but they can only cover so much ground. Only Monolith and I are actually able to clear areas out enough to help with the next. You could do the same and-"
"No." Shoto refused, clenching his fists tighter. "This is exactly what you want, for me to-"
"To be a hero?" Endeavor's flames began to grow brighter, the man doing his best to restrain his frustration. "I don't care how you become a hero as long as you are effective at it. Right now, the only tool you have at actually helping these people you are deliberately ignoring! What's more important to you, your petty vow or the people you want to save?!"
He pointed right at a couple trying to get inside, the man holding his bleeding arm as his spouse opened the door. Shoto spotted a child in her arms, one with a piece of burned blanket right next to its face. Fire nearly hurt that kid, a fire his father probably started.
"If you continue to ignore helping these people." Endeavor warned. "I will pull you out of UA."
What? Shoto stared up at his father, never considering this to be a reality. All his father wanted, was to have him surpass All Might in being a better hero, to somehow achieve more than what he ever could and call it his own victory.
Yet, what would pulling him from UA do for Endeavor? It would hurt his chances to go to other hero schools, to get properly trained and licensed, and to get media attention.
How would his father accomplish his goal?
Then he spotted something descending from the sky, the rockets under its feet cutting out to let the metal boots hit the ground. The armor stood at roughly seven feet, mostly a gun metal gray with military green pieces on the top of its torso, shoulders, and the bulky mechanisms mounted on the faceplate was almost black, bright green orbs for eyes sitting on the front. In the center of the chest was a large circle flowing with the same power in the eyes, joined by two more glowing circles along the collar.
Oh, so that's why Endeavor was fine giving up on him. There was another easier option the man had to claim victory over All Might.
"Hot damn." Backdraft spared a moment to check out the new addition. "I was wondering when you were going to do an Iron Man. That's been like, one of the top requested ones yeah?"
"Y-yes!" Izuku looked over himself. "I really liked the character, and the Ultimate Iron Man suit design really stuck out to me. Especially in the-"
"Now is not the time." Endeavor reminded the two. "In case you forgot, there's a city being flooded with those creatures. Every second we spend ignoring it the worse the situation gets. Monolith."
"Yes Endeavor."
"We're going to split up, cover as much ground as we can while trying to take out these 'nomu.' Rescue, tracking, let everyone else handle it. They need us right now to get on the front lines and eliminate the threat." He was talking as he was already ascending, picking out a path to fly.
"Yes sir!" Izuku took off like a missile, twisting over the rooftops to fly directly over the city.
Endeavor gave one last glance to his son, clearly wishing to say more but there would be no point. Both of them knew neither would change their minds, too stubborn to find another way to solve this.
Shoto felt a short rush of cold water on his back, Backdraft using a watery hand to pull him back to their current reality. "Kid, I know you don't like to use that part of your quirk but-"
"I won't do it." The boy retorted before the hero could finish. "I won't use his quirk."
"Even if he can be an asshole." Backdraft pointed towards the street. "Would you really be better than him if you refuse to-"
"Stop!" Shoto shouted, frost growing along his skin. "I can't do it! I've already made my promise to my mother, to myself!"
"And them?!" Backdraft grabbed the boy's shoulders, spinning him towards a few faces watching from a nearby window. "Did you promise them?! Did you promise that if it came down to it you would let them die?!"
Shoto pulled himself out of the hero's grip, glaring at the ground below because even if he was infuriated he couldn't dare say yes to Backdraft. The hero lifted his hand to the side of his helmet, listening to radio chatter. "If you aren't going to help, get inside. You'll be safer in there."
"I can help." Shoto tried to bring up, the hero not even looking back as he went to work.
"You certainly can, and you know how, but until you're willing to break that promise you're going to stay inside. Got it?"
"But-"
"Is that understood?" The hero waited, hardly a look over his shoulder as he waited for a response.
Shoto couldn't though, he couldn't say yes, or no. So, he went inside, letting the heroes work as he waited for them to do what he couldn't…..wouldn't do.
Izuku blasted through the streets, flying low and fast as he tore through these new nomu. There was no doubt in his mind, they were designed by the same master. Flying backwards, he aimed his forearm mounted weapons towards a sporadically increasing mass.
The barrels ignited, pure heat washing through the crowd and disintegrating them.
Sliding to a halt over the asphalt, Izuku targeted a few that were crawling onto the buildings, breaking into the windows. In a quick surge through his eyes, he cut into their chest and burned away their vitals.
He launched up, going over the nearby alleyways as he used the wrist mounted lasers to slice through the enemy. Just as he was finished with the block, he detected another massive wave.
"Monolith." Endeavor's voice came through, Izuku mentally listening to all the radio chatter. "I need you to establish and defend a perimeter around the infested area. Anything that threatens to break the line you turn to ash."
"Got it." Turning up towards the sky, Izuku kept his arms flat to his side as he ascended towards the clouds. Looking down below, his vision was highlighting so many of the duplicates. Heroes were doing well in keeping the fight local, but their numbers were exponentially increasing.
Identifying their current locations, Izuku mentally created a wide circle around the area. Marking it on his map, he launched himself down towards the group that was closest to breaking out.
Constantly flying, constantly moving, Izuku would burn through entire streets at a time as he flew circles around the area. He was becoming a blur of light, managing to circle back around the five mile radius every thirty seconds while destroying as many as he could. Even if he left a street empty, they were always filled back up by the time he came back to it.
Over and over, he maintained his duty, doing his best to make sure only the enemy was targeted. The idea of time seemed to be meaningless, Izuku focusing only on his task to make sure the destruction did not spread.
"Monolith." Endeavor contacted in a strained voice. "We're not dealing enough damage, we need a large scale strike to take this monsters out for good."
Ok, but how? There were people still inside the buildings, they couldn't use any serious attacks unless they wanted to burn everyone still here.
"There's no time to evacuate!" He heard Endeavor yell at someone. "Anyone we bring outside will be crushed by these monsters, or we can give them all mercy in one blow."
Was, was he talking about bombing this whole area?
"It's either them or the entire country!"
Izuku accidentally clipped a building, tumbling through the air until he landed in the street. They were immediately on him, swinging their wide arms and crashing them into his chest. Throwing out an arm, he blasted his way out to get back in the air. They latched on, trying to crawl up to his face as he used his eyes to turn them into ash.
"Monolith." Endeavor said in a gentle tone. "We don't want another Deika city, but that attack you used to make the crater there, erasing everything that was there before. Can you control it?"
He couldn't….no, he wouldn't.
Yet what choice did he have?
Save Japan, by making everyone here burn.
There had to be something he could use, something to target every single enemy at once while having enough precision to spare everyone else.
[Command Recognized and Confirmed]
[Searching for optimal designs….No design found]
[Solution: Eliminate]
It was clear now, there was only one option available. Channeling power through his frame, the optimal point of release was identified. He soared through the streets, ignoring the current obstacle and focusing on the only thing that could be done.
Passing by the windows reflecting the various fires in the city, he didn't spare a glance towards those inside. Yet one of them caught his attention, an anomaly he couldn't properly detect.
Shadows standing together, hidden by the flames licking up the structure. It could have been dismissed, their appearance making no change on his mission.
Yet the eight figures were still there, they stepped to the side, revealing a new one trapped in a cage of machinery.
Their lifeless form lifted its head, looking right at him.
Izuku was staring at his own reflection.
[ERROR]
[Data corruption detected]
[Restoring from backup]
Nothing was there anymore, Izuku left hovering in the street alone to stare at his own armor. He spun around, trying to recall what he was doing here.
"MONOLITH! RESPOND!" Endeavor commanded, the radio chatter coming back to his mind. Izuku heard them all, the panicking, the distress, a city on fire and heroes desperate to save the people inside.
That's right, heroes save people.
"I won't do it." Izuku finally responded, shooting through the sky towards a new destination.
"If you don't then I will request a nuclear strike! Even more will die!"
A sonic boom resounded behind Izuku, the boy moving as quickly as he could towards the only hope he had of salvaging the situation. Crashing in front of the apartment complex, Izuku quickly held his arms up to clear the street of duplicates.
He peered inside, a single boy stepping outside.
"Are you here to ask me to use my quirk?" Shoto questioned, not as stoic as he usually was.
"The situation is bad. They're duplicating faster than we can get rid of them." The armored teen informed.
"So, it wouldn't matter if I helped anyways." Shoto stared at his icy glove, the one concealing his flames from the world.
"You can help now." Izuku held out his hand. "I need your help."
"You don't." Shoto snarled. "You're the next number one, you clearly had All Might's personal attention, and now you've replaced me as my bastard father's-"
"Endeavor asked me to destroy the city." Izuku interrupted, becoming more on edge the longer they waited. "If I don't, he's going to call in a nuke."
That startled the boy, Shoto unbelieving at first but he quickly found the reason behind it. Defeating this new enemy, was impossible without sacrifice by all. Endeavor would be ruined, his career gone, and if Izuku did it then he would hardly be able to get away with destroying two cities in such a short period of time.
They were risking everything, their reputation, their careers, nothing would be saved.
"I didn't fully understand how you could ignore using part of your quirk, but I think I'm closer to understanding now. You feel it's too dangerous, that you should never resort to using it." Izuku stepped forward, his taller stature somehow appearing small right now. "You won't use your fire for the same reason I won't use my quirk to kill everyone here. So please, help me save this city."
Shoto stared at the puddle of melted ice from earlier, seeing his own reflection with half of his face hidden behind a mask. He had been so focused on the part of him to spite his own father he had masked away the whole point he was still becoming a hero.
He wanted to save people.
Taking off the fake ice from his head, he dropped it to the ground as he looked up towards the boy. "How do I help?"
"I've got reports that the perimeter is no longer maintained! Monolith is AWOL!" Burnin reported to Endeavor, the man currently igniting a whole block of these creatures. He couldn't keep it up for long otherwise he risked hurting those inside, but it still sparked fires around the building.
It wouldn't matter soon though, they would be left to a quick death.
Endeavor cursed to himself, questioning his own actions. Of course they were wrong but would fighting uselessly against these things save Japan? No, it was pointless.
So why was he still fighting here when it wouldn't matter?
He could leave, gather him and his sidekicks to maintain the perimeter until the nuke came. Endeavor opened up his phone, a direct line to those with the ability to use such a measure.
The hero hadn't called it in yet, weakness preventing him from doing what needed to be done.
A scream alerted him, Endeavor pocketing the phone and rushing to the scene. One of the grotesque beings was reaching inside towards a family, the children crying as the father tried to bat it away.
Lighting his fist up, Endeavor punched straight through the being's chest and threw the body away. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes!" The man panted, relief flooding through him.
"Good, get your family upstairs and away from the windows."
"Of course Endeavor!" He picked up the youngest, the toddler staring at Endeavor in awe as they were carried away.
The hero couldn't….wouldn't call in a strike.
Yet it had to be done, to spare a million more families like this one.
A glint of green reflected against the broken glass, capturing Endeavor's attention. He wished he didn't ask the boy to do this, the media could not be swayed again so easily to overlook two massive incidents. This time, he wouldn't be there to aid in the boy's defense.
He would be at the mercy of a cruel world.
A wave of green emanating from the center of the crisis expanded rapidly, Endeavor bracing himself for the inevitable.
He wondered if he would see Toya, and if he forgave this foolish old man.
It hit, Endeavor feeling it rush over his skin and envelop him in the power. It was….cold?
Opening his eyes, the hero saw that he had not perished, but instead his flames were extinguished as this odd energy circled around him. It was as if they were horribly rendered, the luminescent fire carrying hints of bleached blue and red with them in a series of triangles.
It appeared to be computer generated, fire that obeyed a digital command. The hero flew upwards, wanting to see the scene personally.
Marching above the buildings, a single figure of power stood over a hundred and sixty feet. The same low poly flames flowed out of the limbs, the mechanical behemoth wearing sleek noir armor with half of its side bearing light blue segments and the other side a faint red. It was most prominent of the face, those eyes glowing bright lime green as they observed the entire city.
It was clearly Midoriya, but the colors reminded him greatly of his own son. Especially how they matched the sides of his quirk.
It rose its foot, sending out streaks of these unique flames that rushed through the city in an instant. They targeted the fires, extinguishing them with ice as the others burned through the creatures causing havoc.
"Endeavor! What the hell is happening?!"
"Cancel the call to the fire department, it's been put out."
"WE'VE GOT A FIRE THAT, hold on it's cold, what the hell?"
"Nevermind on backup, this section is clear of the duplicates, does anyone else need help?"
"Negative, our area is clear."
"Are these new flames causing anyone issues?"
"They're not burning anything."
"Ambulances are reporting that the roads are clear, they'll make it!"
The number two continued to switch between channels on his earpiece, listening to the heroes reporting their situations. Somehow, they had overcome the crisis.
"Report, does anyone see any duplicates left?"
"No sir."
"None to report."
"They're all just ash now."
"We'll begin a sweep, but these flames are covering every square inch like a tsunami!"
Endeavor collapsed onto his rear, letting out a sigh of relief. He had almost made the worst call of his life, completely without hope that they could save the people present. Then, he was proven wrong. One of the first times Endeavor was happy for that.
Curiously, Endeavor used his phone to take a quick picture of the mech in the distance and sent it to an associate. It didn't take long for them to reply with the name of the reference.
"Lio de Galon, from Promare. Perhaps Shoto would like to watch it."
Kurogiri was riding the fence of his emotions, sitting in the eye of the storm as he was debating between his feelings of joy towards All for One's inevitable plan being halted again, or how this was technically his own plan and was entirely ruined.
There were supposed to be two foreseeable outcomes, either the boy was too overwhelmed to think and could be finished by his tougher resources or would vaporize the city. Instead, he found a way to use such precision to destroy the new nomu and put out the fires caused by them.
Life wasn't fair, and he wanted it to end.
"Fine." Kurogiri strained as he opened three large portals from different locations. "Not like these would be effective later."
Shoto stood alongside the boy, inside the head. A new sleek dark armored suit was over his person with red and blue trims glowing under the plates. He could feel fire and ice being pulled from his quirk, being fueled by the fountain of endless energy that came from Izuku. Every thought was shared, every action was theirs, everything was out in the open.
'Thank you' Izuku's mind relayed, Shoto sparing a glance towards the boy as they waved their hand towards the scattered stragglers hiding in the pipes of the city.
'You're the one who found a way to save everyone.' Shoto regrettably remembered his own inaction. 'I was just wanting to correct my mistakes.'
The memories of growing up quirkless, wishing to become a hero with all your heart but never having the ability or the help to do so. Even being told no by the number one hero, he didn't want to give up.
All Shoto's life he had every tool at his disposal to achieve his dream. Born with connections, a powerful quirk, being pushed to become the best hero on Earth, he must look like a selfish brat to Izuku.
'That's not true.' The green haired teen replied with his own mind. 'Almost all your life you felt like you never had a choice, and you were fighting to have some form of control in your dream.'
Their mechanical body stood still, taking its time to do a deep scan of the area.
'...Who do you think is a bigger asshole, your dad or my dad?' Shoto questioned in a less serious manner, hoping to lighten the mood.
'Are…you're trying to make a joke!' Izuku realized, able to decipher Shoto's own intentions.
The boy felt like he failed, but by how he could feel Izuku's happiness flood through him he was somewhat successful at bringing the mood to a better place.
They had saved the city, turning his curse into something even better than his original quirk. If he could always use it like this, he would do whatever it would take to do so.
'We can ask the club.' Izuku offered. 'I mean, we've managed to make some things that are powered by Ochaco's quirk. Since yours directly deals with energy transfer it should be easy to translate it into a dual form of-'
Shoto never realized how good it was to be heard and understood, even if he didn't have to say a word. No wonder Izuku let Ochaco do the talking for him most of the time, she understood him so well and was so confident, so caring, so wonderful.'
They halted, a sudden wave of awkwardness shared between the two of them as they were both aware of what Shoto's mind was leading to.
[ALERT]
[Multiple spatial breaches detected]
[Data matches subject "Kurogiri"]
Their gigantic body turned towards the distant threat, identifying three massive targets with similar bio composition to every other nomu that was thrown at them.
Mindless, rampaging beasts that rushed towards them, about to exit the clearing and start breaching the city. The iron giant marched towards them, crystals of ice dancing within its flames as they raised their fists.
Punching the air, a pillar of frosted flames shot out, striking the center one with the elongated jaw in the chest. The attack exploded out, stretching until it captured the other two beside it.
'Should we take them alive?' Both thought of the question, their newfound strength possibly able to complete the task.
Yet the answer was clear already, these were created for the sole purpose of mass slaughter. The longer they were alive, the more likely a Deika city outcome would happen, or even a USJ.
'No.' The young heroes agreed, hastening their pace until they were charging the beasts head on. Leaping over the last line of buildings, fire and ice flowed around them as they reared back a fist.
They had a lot of pent up anger towards their fathers to let out.
Izuku can now become a small boy.
Ochaco straight up kills a guy.
Shoto finally gets over himself, in a way.
Are these characters progressing towards a path that's better, or worse?
Now with a tv tropes thanks to Arakiisjogenius
Spotify Playlist I listen to while writing this: Cyberfunk by BLACKOUT
Any questions, comments, or jokes are welcomed. As long as they're funny.
Harleking31: He's just a rain cloud
Planar-Walking-Entertainment: A big part of his deal was focused on All Might, with the hero now gone Stain doesn't see any hope in the world.
AnimeFan13579: Stain is ok with heroes having toys as long as they don't prioritize them, the fact that to the world Izuku spent half his internship doing publicity stunts instead of learning how to save lives is his issue.
Austin: As cool as that would be after looking into it, I don't see the practical reason for having a big church on top of the whole thing.